Jobs for BSc Public Health Graduates

Working on the health of whole communities

A BSc in Public Health focuses on preventing disease rather than treating individual patients. Students study epidemiology, biostatistics, environmental health, health promotion, nutrition, reproductive health and health policy. In Kenya, public health graduates find work across county health departments, national programmes and the large network of NGOs and donor-funded projects that deliver HIV, TB, malaria, immunisation, water and sanitation, and maternal and child health services.

Typical roles

• Public health officer in county and sub-county health departments, including inspection of food premises and sanitation
• Programme officer and project assistant in health NGOs and research projects
• Monitoring and evaluation officer, data officer and research assistant
• WASH officer, health promotion officer and community health coordinator

Registration

Public health officers and technicians are regulated under the Public Health Officers (Training, Registration and Licensing) Act, 2013, which established a council to register and license them. Roles that involve statutory inspection and enforcement in counties generally require that registration, while many NGO programme roles do not, though they value it. Check the council's current requirements after graduating.

Entry requirements

University places are allocated through KUCCPS, typically requiring a C+ mean grade with good grades in Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics or Physics. Diploma holders in public health or community health can often join with credit transfer.

Skills that make you employable

Programme employers repeatedly ask for data skills: designing simple surveys, using KoboToolbox or ODK, cleaning data in Excel and analysing it in SPSS, Stata or R. Familiarity with DHIS2, the health information system used by the Ministry of Health and counties, is a strong advantage. Report writing and community engagement experience, for example from attachments or volunteering with community health promoters, round out a strong CV.

Career path

Graduates often start on project contracts, moving to programme officer, senior programme officer and programme manager. A master's in public health, epidemiology or health economics is common for senior and technical advisor roles, which are among the better-paid positions in the NGO sector. Contract work is the norm, so learn to manage gaps between projects and keep your network active.